What started as a five-minute errand turned into a 30-minute lesson in kindness. Before we left, they handed my son a coloring book and a junior officer card.
I thought that would be the end of it.
But the next morning, while I packed his lunch, he held up a drawing he’d made of the officers: cartoon versions of the three of them smiling, with “ME AND MY FRIENDS RAYNOR AND JULES” written across the top.
“Can we go show them?” he asked.
We returned to the bank, and to our surprise, they were there again. It turned out they did weekly outreach there. Officer Raynor lit up when he saw my son. “Deputy’s back!” he said, and they proudly pinned his drawing to their table.
Weeks passed. He kept returning with drawings and “reports.” He saw them as mentors—real-life heroes who made time for him.
Then one day… they were gone.
No officers. No table. No familiar smiles.
The teller told us that Officer Jules had been reassigned. Officer Raynor too, most likely.
On the ride home, my son was quiet. That night, he taped one of his drawings to his wall. It showed the three of them high-fiving. In the corner, he had written, “I’ll be a good guy too.”
Two months later, a small envelope arrived in the mail. No return address. Just a postcard with the CHP logo.
On the back, it read:
“Deputy, Officer Raynor here. Got transferred up north but I kept your drawing in my locker. Officer Jules says hi too. Keep being kind, smart, and brave. We’re proud of you.”
My son held that card like it was gold.
I had assumed the officers were just being polite to a chatty kid.
But they weren’t.
They saw him.
They listened. They encouraged. And without even realizing it, they helped shape his idea of what it means to lead with compassion.
The Takeaway:
Sometimes, the smallest moments leave the biggest marks. A sticker badge. A kind word. A shared laugh. You never know what a child will carry with them—or what they’ll grow into because of it.
So if someone’s ever made that kind of difference in your life, tell them.
And if you get the chance to be that person for someone else?
Take it.
Even a few kind minutes can last a lifetime. ❤️